Article of rubber compound.



No. 879,388. 8 PATENTED FEB. 18, 1908. W. KIEL.

ARTICLE OF RUBBER COMPOUND.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26. 1906.

Maw wx Inventor:

UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM KIEL, OF BUTLER, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN HARD RUBBER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ARTICLE OF RUBBER COM POUND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 18,1908.

Application filed June 26. 1906. Serial No. 323.438.

tages of a hard surface, such as susceptibility to polish and resistance to deterioration either by heat, age or ordinary chemical reactions.

Further objects of the invention will appear in the specification.

To attain these objects I form the sheet, vessel or other article of a plurality of layers, at least three in number, of vulcanizable compound, of which the exposed layers are hard, while the inner one is relatively fiexible and usually softer. In a. patent granted to me on May 8th, 1906,No. 819,765, I have shown and described a chemical vessel, the walls of which are composed of two layers of rubber or like vulcanizable compound, of

which one, referably the outer, was softer than the ot er. The object of this invention was to make a battery cell or otherchemical vessel which should be resistant to the reactions of the chemicals contained therein, and which at the same time should be far less frangible than the ordinary cell or.

vessel. The softer compound of the outer layer of such vessels is usually made from a rubber compound which is less uniformly cured than the harder layer, and consequently.

subject to considerable deleterious change from the effect of age and heat, beside being more readily attacked by the chemicals which may be spilled thereon. The present invention unites the advantages of that cell with the other advantages specified above.

In the drawings, Figure 1' represents a chemical vessel, such as is used for the cells of storage batteries, embodying my invention, the cell being represented in elevation and partly broken away to .show its construction. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the cell. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a telephone receiver embodying my invention. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a piece of tubing also embody ing my invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, 10 designates the vessel, the walls of which.

are composed of three adherent layers 11, 12 and 13, theouter and inner layers 11 and 13 of which are of hard vulcanized rubber compound or the like, and the interposed layer 12 is of a special soft material, e. g., a soft rubber compound. This interposed layer will receive a uniform superficial vulcanization on both sides by contact with the outer. hard rubber layers during the vulcanizing process and will become firmly united thereto,

whereby perfect support of such harder outer layers is afforded by the softer inner layer, whereas in my former invention the softer material came in contact with the hard rubber covering on one side only, thus receiving a less uniform vulcanization. 14

designates the vertical ribs usually placed inthe bottom of the vessel to support the battery sheets.

In Fig. 3 of the drawings, 20 designates a telephone receiver handle having. the usual approximately .cylindricalbody portion 21 and flared mouth 22. It is shown as provided with the usual interior thread portion 23 and exterior thread portion 24. As before, the outer layer 25 and the inner layer 26 of the handle are of hard compound, and the interposed layer 27 is of relatively soft com pound. stance the inner layer 27 is entirely embedded in or surrounded b the exposed layers 25 and 26, so that it is full y protected from exposure at all points. If a softer, less vulcanized outer surface is required, as for the purposes set forth in the acknowledged patent, it is best secured by placing a fourth, softer layer exterior] y of one of the hard layers, as in said patent, leaving said harder layer continuous It will be seen that in the present inand covering and protecting the intermediate the mass or body of the inclosed softer layer. As stated, the inner layer is itself superficially vulcanized to some extent, thereby obviating any very sharp line of demarcation between the layers and promoting such uniform distribution of stresses throughout the. inner layer. The substantially complete inclosure of such inner layer contributes further to such distribution.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings, 30 represents a piece of tubing composed, as. before, of an" outer layer 31, an inner layer 32 and an interposecl layer 33, the layers 31 and 32 being of relatively hard compoundand the interppsed layer 33 being relatively soft and flexie In the case of the tube or-like article,

its flexibility is very much increased, while its susceptibility to polish, the smoothness of both its interior and. exterior surfaces, and

its resistance to attack by chemicals or the:

like is maintained. a

It will be understood that the walls of the vessel shown in Figs. land 2, and the tube shown in Fig. 4, are usually first made in sheet form and then joined together to form the article required the joint being shown at 15 in Fi 2. By the term article as used in the dlaims I therefore include-thesheet from which any vessel, tube or the like is made.

In the drawings I have shown the various articles as composed of three layers only of vulcanizable compound, with the softer one interposed. between the others. i It is obvious,

however, that some of the advantages of my invention may be secured, particularly in some articles, by using a greater number than three of the layers, ofwhich it will not in every case be necessary that both the exposed layers be of the harder compound. As stated, if a softer, outer layer be required it is best affixed to one of the harder layers of the three-layer article herein described, as an additional layer.

What I claim is 1. An article comprising three cohering layers of which the outer layers are composed of relatively hard rubber compound and the intermediate layer is of relatively soft superficially vulcanized material united to the outer layers and substantially completely covered and protected thereby.

2. An article composed of three layers of' rubber compound, the outer and exposed layers being of relatively hard. vulcanized material and the intermediate layer of relatively soft superficially vulcanized material united to said outer layers and substantially completely covered and rotected thereby.

3; A hollow artic e of rubber compound having inner and outer layers of relatively hard vulcanized material and another layer intermediate said inner and outer layers of relatively soft superficially vulcanized material, said intermediate layer being united to WILLIAM KIEL.

itnesses PAUL WITTEOH, G110. J. Farm. 

